Farewell, Zizou

Zinedine Zidane, skipper of the French team in the FIFA World Cup, has apologized to the fans for headbutting Marco Materrazi during the final match of the month-long tournament.

Zidane, or Zizou as he is fondly called, bowed out in disgrace as he ended his international career with a red card, but did the most admirable thing of apologizing for his misdeed.

It was indeed a disappointment to see a player as great as Zidane exit in such manner.

Sometimes, your opponents get the better of you through their trash talking and in that particular game, Materazzi did just that.

I'm sure the Italian player was just trying to get Zidane to lose his cool as part of the strategy for the game. Yes, it was below the belt to call the mother and the sister of an opponent such names, but then some of these words aren't really meant to be as harsh as they seem. It's like children talking, but then many men just won't allow that.

This chapter of Zidane's life should now be closed as he retires from the sport where he, undoubtedly, became one of the best in the world during his prime.

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The planned Visayas Amateur Athletic Association (VAAA) looks interesting on paper and I am hoping that once this really pushes through, this will be something that would boost sports development in this part of the country.

Although initially the plan is just for basketball, I am hoping that this will also include other sporting events in the near future.

While the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) has done a good job in terms of working hard to re-energize the league, I still firmly believe that doing home and away games would be the best solution to dwindling attendance.

Such is the plan for the VAAA. One thing though might become a major hitch - cost.

I'm interested to see how the VAAA would be able to make things happen. This is a shot in the arm for sports and deserves our support.

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Today is the big day of my elementary class as we celebrate our silver jubilee at the University of San Carlos Basic Education Department-South Campus.

The affair starts will a mass at 9:30 am at the school chapel on the 4th floor. The program proper at the covered court will immediately follow.

This week has both been exciting and hectic for the members of the organizing committee, who have not only been working practically all day long to do the finishing touches for the preparations.

Last Thursday, 16 of us went south to the town of Sibonga to visit the Manatad Elementary School, which is one of the beneficiaries of THE FREEMAN Foundation. Our group went there to share our blessings with the school kids. Our class has also contributed an amount to the TF Foundation's efforts for the improvement of the conditions of the school.

Yesterday, three of us met various groups at the USC-South Campus to do seminars in the fields that we have specialized. Dr. Frederick Boholst talked about transactional analysis to a group of high school students, Mary Melody Yadao-Remorca had a storytelling activity with the pre-school, and I talked about journalism to the writers from the elementary and high school department.

Today, the activities will be a combination of a formal program and fun events that would make the event memorable. Many of our elementary teachers have also confirmed their attendance.

More than the fun that we'll have, this activity shall be a way for us to thank our mentors for helping us become what we are now.

Hopefully, this can also translate to more alumni activities that would benefit the school and the students in the field of academics, sports, and culture.

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MILESTONES: Belated happy birthday to my good friend Dennis Francis V. Pastor, who turned a year older yesterday.

Birthday greetings also go to GMA-7 Cebu's Cecille Quibod, who turns a year older this weekend.

On Tuesday, THE FREEMAN will be celebrating its 87th anniversary.

More power to all of you!